Journey of Ages – Tamaki Maori Village, Rotorua

The ‘Tamaki story’ at its core is about brothers. And like all good stories with retelling over a long time – they’ve become legends.

In 1989, Mike and Doug Tamaki began building a dream… It started with the sale of a Harley Davidson motorcycle and the purchase of a 16-seater mini bus.

You see, Mike had been looking everywhere for money to set up what to most onlookers (and bank managers for that matter) seemed a random and “sure-to-fail” business idea. He had been declined a bank loan from the major lenders – actually from all the lenders. After months without progress, Mike was still doggedly determined. When it looked like he had exhausted all avenues - out of the blue, the answer appeared - right at the end of his nose – well it was very close by anyway.

The answer lay with his brother Doug’s shiny pride and joy – a Harley Davidson motorcycle. It took a while to wear down his brother’s resolve - but as with all good stories, there was eventually a happy ending. Doug parted with the Harley. Next thing you know, the boys found themselves on the way back from Auckland in a not-so-shiny (and kind of empty!) 16-seater Japanese minibus.

Empty as it had only the one seat. Mike saw the value in letting his brother, recently bereft of his Harley, drive home. And all the way home, they nutted out the plan. History was in motion.

The concept saw the brothers and their families create a whole new encounter with Maori culture outside of the hotel environment. They set about creating - from scratch - a pre-European Maori village, 15 minutes south of Rotorua. Many said they shouldn't, couldn’t or wouldn't pull it off. The distance from hotels was seen as a deterrent, the forest setting wouldn't happen, the in-ground, real hangi approach (as opposed to the shortcut versions being offered at the time) seemed labour intensive and too difficult. The Tamaki brothers turned all of these negatives into positives.

The bus journey to the village outside of Rotorua is now a major highlight; renowned for its warmth, humour and appropriateness of the protocols it outlines.

The forest environment is stunning, the hangi feast is a benchmark to others and the people who deliver the experience are among the most sought-after around. The Rotorua experience now hosts more than 100,000 people each year and shares a powerful and natural encounter within a forest setting of the people, the history and the spirit of their Maori forebears through the eyes of proud, passionate and genuine people of today.

With entrepreneurial spirit still bubbling away twenty years on, and after many years dedicated to pushing the concept of ‘storytelling’ for regions, cultural tourism products and the country as a whole, Mike & Doug Tamaki at the helm of Tamaki Heritage Experiences, have now embarked on yet another ground breaking and revolutionary new approach to sharing our culture, our history and our stories.

And so….The Chronicles Of Uitara are born!

The Chronicles of Uitara trilogy includes Lost in Our Own Land, Journey of Ages and The Arrival.
It is based on a true story, true characters and actual events as experienced by a single warrior line over many hundreds of years. The Chronicles of Uitara moves through time from 3000BC to the present day. In each story (for which there is a published book available), readers are introduced to a new generation of the hero Uitara - and through his eyes they experience the challenges, victories and defeat, love, loss and family as well as pivotal historical events of his generation.

In a trail that traverses New Zealand and mirrors the events within The Chronicles of Uitara stories, Tamaki Heritage Group has also created The Storytelling Trail of New Zealand. The company has two of three culture and heritage re-enactments established. The third is under development, for launch toward the end of 2010. They span from the top of the North Island to the heart of the South Island and as they do they move forward in time. Now open is Journey of Ages (Rotorua) and Lost in Our Own Land (Christchurch), and soon to come is The Arrival (Manukau). These encounters are stand-alone experiences but guests will also enjoy visiting each in turn, in order to experience the full Chronicles of Uitara story.

“In reading these stories, people come to know us – they come to admire our heroes, feel our conquests, celebrate our victories and mourn our losses and in doing so they come to know our culture. In The Chronicles of Uitara as The Storytelling Trail of New Zealand, these same people can now experience that story first hand. They will meet the actual descendants of those they read about because it is they who deliver our stories as re-enactments,” explains Mike Tamaki.

The Chronicles of Uitara is dramatic and it is very real. It has been likened to what the story of Braveheart was to the Scots, or what Rabbit Proof Fence was to Indigenous Australians - it’s a real story, with all the grit and glory, all the drama and colour of an epic. This is not a fanciful myth or legend. It is not a shallow brush with song and dance as entertainment. This is an expression of a real people, warts-and-all history and culture presented through a story,” he continues.

“The truth of the matter is, we have waited 150 years to tell our story – and we want to do it right – we want our guests to literally see what we have seen, hear what we have heard – but most of all to feel what we have felt.”

Tamaki Tours Ltd long term goals and its overriding vision are expressed as the following:

To establish a set of culture and heritage touchstones throughout New Zealand that are linked by an overriding and unifying indigenous story of the people, their history, their values and the land to which they are intrinsically bound.